This application claims the priority of German application 198 29 432.8, filed in Germany on Jul. 1, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The present invention relates to a bottom structure for a self-supporting frame body of a motor vehicle, especially a passenger automobile, with two lateral beams extending into the rear end and joined together in the rear end area by at least two crossbeams spaced apart from one another lengthwise of the vehicle.
A bottom structure for a self-supporting motor vehicle frame body is generally known, especially for station wagons such as the Mercedes-Benz Model T. The station wagon has in the rear part of the frame a freight compartment which can be equipped with a third row of seats facing rearward. The feet of people riding on this third row of seats are placed in a corresponding recess in the floor of the freight compartment. In the event of a rear-end collision against the station wagon, considerable intrusions into the rear end might occur, which would also greatly deform the bottom structure. Especially in the event of a laterally off-center rear-end collision, deformations of the rear portion of the bottom structure occur, and this might result in considerable injury to persons on the third seat row, especially to their feet.